Ahmedabad 's wait for a heritage status tag gets prolonged

Amdavad's dossier to be submitted next year, thus delaying it further.

Desperately waiting for Ahmedabad to get World Heritage City status? Then, hang on. The city will have to wait for one more year to complete the procedure required to win nomination for that exalted status.

Following much hype about Amdavad racing ahead to get the World Heritage City tag since 2011, things have cooled off a bit. The city’s dossier will be considered for the nominations next year, leading to a further delay in the entire process.

Blame it on political unwillingness or on observations made by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) about some changes, but the dossier will be submitted next year.

“The dossier is complete and submitted last September. But, we are working on submitting the management plan. Since it is not compulsory to submit the management plan at the same time as the dossier, we are working on it to be sent now,” said one of the key persons involved in the process. After a committee, comprising historians and archaeologists, said some changes had to be made in the dossier, it was sent back. “It is true that we have been asked to make some changes and add some information in the dossier, which we are working upon,” admitted the official.

Ahmedabad appeared on the tentative list of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) in March 2011 after the city applied for the World Heritage City status in February that year. Since then, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation along with Cept University, had been working on preparing a detailed dossier of the city and finally submitted it to the expert committee for review. While Ahmedabad’s dossier struggled to be completed and reviewed by experts, the ministry of culture nominated Delhi for World Heritage City status. Now, Ahmedabad would be sending its dossier next year, fully completed and reviewed by experts.

“It’s a lengthy process and involves reviews, suggestions by history experts and implementing the same. For this, we will be ready to submit the dossier next year,” added another key person involved in making the dossier.

The process involves sending the dossier to ASI, which in turn would submit it to the culture ministry. The advisory committee of the ministry would then nominate one of the cities to Unesco.

Rani ki Vaav for World Heritage SiteRani ki Vaav has been sent to ASI for World Heritage site status. “There are high chances of the stepwell getting selected and ASI might not consider two entries from Gujarat. Due to this, it has been decided to send the city’s dossier next year,” one of the key persons for city’s dossier preparation requesting anonymity said.